No room to zoom: Northern Bypass, link roads need of the hour: traffic SSP

Wahid Mahmood says police is doing its job, infrastructure requires govt attention

PESHAWAR: Traffic SSP Captain (retd) Wahid Mahmood said the completion of the Northern Bypass and link roads is crucial to solving the provincial capital’s traffic congestion woes.

Talking to The Express Tribune on Thursday, Mahmood was of the view that with the given resources the police is trying its best to manage the sprawling metropolitan’s traffic. “Peshawar’s infrastructure requires government attention,” he said, adding additional link roads will make the flow of vehicles smooth and help central arteries like GT Road from choking due to gridlocks. “Only one road runs from Pir Zakori to Karkhano Bazaar. Had there been multiple routes, traffic would not have been an issue,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the SSP spoke in detail about Peshawar’s traffic problems at a day-long seminar titled ‘Emergency Traffic Management Plan’. The workshop focused particularly on devising contingency traffic plans for the city in times of emergencies.



During the session, Mahmood was flanked by University of Engineering and Technology Taxila faculty members Dr Naveed, Dr Jawad and Dr Imran Hafeez and Rescue 1122 emergency officer Waseem Khan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mahmood said in the absence of a centralised mass transit system, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep transport infrastructure from breaking down. “The number of unregistered taxis and rickshaws in the city has multiplied over the years,” he said, adding lack of parking facilities, encroachment and a general lack of awareness only add to the problems.

The SSP said the Northern Bypass should have been constructed without delay. He added link roads from GT Road will help divert traffic to Ring Road in times of emergencies. “Our roads are capable of handling o.12 million vehicles only while the actual number in the provincial capital is way above 0.75 million,” he said.

Mahmood added policymakers in the past have not been able to provide for the growing population of Peshawar, giving rise to grave urban management problems.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2015.